Nightmare
by The Mockingjay Lives
Summary: Battle Royale has spread to America, and another class has been chosen...to face the nightmare of Battle Royale.
1. Before the Nightmare

"Hey, Jordan."

"Mmmm."

"Jooor-dan."

"Mmm."

"Jordan, get up! Sheesh."

Jordan Parker (Boy #9) looked up. Dory Dobb (Girl #18) was grinning at him, her mischievous, freckled pixie face hovering above his. "I'm up. What do you want?"

"Nerd couple alert, entering the bus right now."

Milo Hailan (Boy #13) and Elphaba Skeat (Girl #11) were coming on to the mostly empty bus. They were whispering about numbers, as far as Jordan could tell, and Elphaba was furiously scribbling in a battered blue notebook. No doubt they were discussing a complicated math equation.

"You know, when you kind of squint, they look cute together," said Dory. "I saved you from the perpetual depths of nerdiness last year by becoming your friend. You could have been just like them, glasses and all. You should thank me."

"Of course, thank you. For becoming my faithful watchdog against all nerdiosity. You clown."

She punched him in the nose, leading to a merry free-for-all scuffle, and they almost missed the next person to swagger into the bus.

"Uh oh," muttered Dory. "It's King I'm-so-mighty Cornelius."

Cornelius Ellion (Boy #14) was perfect. At least, in his eyes. He was on the football team, got reasonably high grades and made nearly every girl swoon for his good looks. He had baby blue eyes, which Dory remarked were probably contacts, and curly red hair.

Jordan knew Dory didn't give a hoot for Cornelius, but he couldn't help being annoyed when King I'm-so-mighty gave Dory a dazzling smile and waltzed over.

"Hey, Dory dear. You still hanging out with that guy? He's a loser, not worthy of us, right? Come and sit next to me. We don't need _him." _Jordan felt he'd never hated him more.

"That's right. We don't need _him," _echoed Dory sweetly, then slapped him hard on the face. "I am, of course, talking to Jordan, regarding you. Get away from me, freak."

Cornelius looked as if he was about to knock her down, then thought better of it and slunk away. Dory performed a tiny victory dance in her seat. "What a coward. He says he's perfect, fearless, yadah-yadah, then runs away with his tail between his legs."

"Nice job, _Dory dear," _Jordan teased. She scowled and rolled her eyes at him. "Watch it, _loser. _I can best you any time in fisticuffs." She put up her hands like a boxer. Jordan raised his in fake surrender. "No, no, I admit defeat! Spare me! Spare- hey, look, there's Wilma. And, oh preserve us, it's the Jewels."

Wilma Pinkerly (Girl #19), a chubby blonde girl, hurried into the bus, covering her tearstained face. The reason for that was evident, as the airheaded, spoiled, bratty group of girls that called themselves the Jewels was behind her.

The Jewels consisted of Helen Wyatt (Girl #6), Destiny Finn (Girl #7), Sandrine Laivette (Girl #10) and Jubilee Kymet (Girl #15). Helen was the leader, and was largely considered the prettiest girl in the school. Jordan, for one, didn't care about her and all her blonde hair and long legs, but most boys did. What he really cared for was Dory, her silky brown braids, her laughing blue eyes, the adorable freckles covering her face...He gave himself a mental shake. _Stop it, you dreamy dozer, _he scolded his wandering mind. _Dory only likes you as a friend, and that's all._

"Hey, you jerks. Leave the kid alone. Don't you have hearts under those V-neck mini shirts you wear?" Jordan sighed in relief. The bird twins were there to save Wilma, and they were braver than anyone else he could think of. Robin Gage (Boy #12) and Wren Gage (Girl #12) rose from their seats in the bus and glared identical glares. The Jewels backed off as quickly as if they had been facing down two bears. "Take it easy. We were just messing around," muttered Sandrine, before escaping to the other side of the bus. Wilma fled to safety behind Robin. He smiled kindly at her, his warm brown eyes twinkling. "It's okay, Wilma. You can come sit with us, and we'll drive them away again if they come back," Wren reassured her, then led the grateful girl away.

Jordan sighed happily. All was right for now. He closed his eyes and listened to the chatter of the rapidly filling up bus. He could hear Belinda Valastro (Girl #3) and Carlo Valastro (Boy #3), the other pair of twins, jabbering away to each other in fluent Italian. He heard Simon Willis (Boy #4) and Timothy Sheen (Boy #7) engaging in an earnest conversation about the merits of Gamma World compared to Changeling the Lost. He heard Carmen Satchel (Girl #16) softly singing a song to Alice Ninian (Girl #5), who sat enthralled beside her. He could hear Dimitri Nalyaren (Boy #21) attempting to teach Russian to Samuel Norris (Boy #20). Sam was hopeless, but tried gamely. Jordan was sure everyone was on the bus, when he heard a tremendous crash at the door.

"OUCH! Trixie, you nitwit! You led me right into the door!" "I'm _sorry, _Eva. Quit shoving. I'll get you in." The door was banged open, and two breathless girls staggered in. The one attached to the other with a death grip around the wrist was Eva Nyling (Girl #4), who was blind. The girl leading her was Trixie Bell (Girl #21). She had been assigned by the school to assist Eva whenever possible, a duty she was quite sick of, as headstrong Eva didn't like being 'a dog on a leash' as she put it.

Everyone was finally all settled in, all 42 students, and they drove off. Nobody knew what lay ahead of them, because it wasn't a harmless class trip like they expected. Nobody knew that their teacher, Vanessa Skylet, wearing a gas mask, calmly shot the driver and took over the bus. Nobody knew, because every student was sound asleep from the gas canister that Vanessa had smuggled in. Nobody knew that their patient, intelligent, well liked teacher was a murderer. Nobody knew that they were in Battle Royale, except Hairo Mizuno (Boy #16). The quiet boy from Japan had gone through it and lived, and as he saw his classmates dropping like flies around him, he knew he was going into it again.

**So, this was the first chapter of my American Battle Royale story, where you get to meet some of the characters. There is no main character. This is my first Battle Royale story, and I was inspired by some amazing stories by Fomalhaut. Go read Fomalhaut's Battle Royale stories! And please review this, and tell me if you like it, and what you think of the characters. My special review question for this chapter is:**

** _Who is your favorite character so far?_**

**Thank you for reading!**


	2. The Nightmare Begins

Lauren Neal (Girl #14) awoke with a bitter taste in her mouth and a foggy mind.

Shaking her head hard, she tried to recall where she was, why she was there, and how had she fallen asleep on the bus?

She looked down and noticed that she was sitting in a desk. It certainly wasn't _her _desk. Her desk had a heart she had doodled onto it, with the initials 'L.N. & D.V.' on it. D.V. stood for Dale Veldar (Boy #2). She didn't much care for him anymore, though he _was _so tall and strong, and his brown hair _did _fall onto his shoulders just so. Now she thought Cornelius Ellion was the best, because, well, every girl did. And Lauren didn't like to be left out from trends.

She looked up for the first time, and saw she was in a classroom. It wasn't her classroom at all. And everyone else was asleep, like she had been, but she woke up first. How strange that they should have gone from a bus, to here. This didn't look much like the class trip they were supposed to be on.

She looked up still further, to the desk at the front of the room, and immediately let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

Everyone was startled awake, and saw the sight at the teacher's desk, and most of them had more or less the same reaction as Lauren had.

"Oh...my...gosh..."

"What _happened _there?"

"That is just sick!"

"Let me out of here!"

"I want to go home!"

"What happened? Why is everyone yelling? This isn't the bus. Trixie!"

This last, was, of course, from Eva, who was fumbling around in her unfamiliar desk. "Trix-ie!" she squealed, childishly beating her hands on her seat. "I can't _see! _Help me! Where are we? TRIXIE!?"

Trixie was currently occupied in trying not to retch at the sight at the front of the room. _Who...who could have done that? What monster did that? That is just evil... _These thoughts were blown away by a particularly ear-shattering screech from Eva, who was panicking at all the noise and strange things. Trixie wrenched her eyes away and went to go calm down Eva.

"_What _the _bloody nutcracker _is going on here?"

This was from Sadie Osbourne (Girl #9), a foreign exchange student from Britain with a foul mouth. She had been firmly told by the teachers that if she did not stop swearing, she would have to be punished. Therefore she limited it to phrases of her own making.

Jennifer Laurel (Girl #2) opened her eyes and promptly closed them again, whimpering and cowering in her seat.

Pandemonium reigned in the classroom, students running around and calling for help, students frozen with fear in their desks, students trying to break the locked door open.

"What is this thing around my neck?" yelled Niles Hemingway (Boy #10), gesturing toward the metal collar fastened securely at his throat. This set off a fresh chorus of wails, as every student found the collar locked onto them. Many tried to pull theirs off, and would have met their demise right then and there if it weren't for Hairo Mizuno.

"EVERYONE, STOP!" he bellowed. The class froze where they were at the commanding tone in his voice. "Do. Not. Touch. Those. Collars. Do you understand?"

"Why? Why can't we touch them? Do they do anything? Do you have something to do with this?" snapped Chester Artimer (Boy #1), trying to sound tough but failing miserably, his rapid questions coming out in a terrified squeak.

"I did not do this, but I know what they do. If you continue messing with them, they will explode and blow your head off your neck."

"Oh, no they won't, Hairo. But what a good memory you have! That is exactly what they used to do, as I am sure you recall. This time they do something more...entertaining."

Every student's shocked eyes turned to where the serene, familiar voice had come from. They found their teacher, Vanessa Skyling, standing at the door she had just unlocked. The students trying to break it open quickly backed away and returned to their seats, as did the rest of the class.

Vanessa quickly walked to the desk at the front of the room, swept off the disgusting thing on it, which earned many gasps from the class, and sat down in the chair behind it. She folded her arms and looked invitingly out at the class, as if encouraging them to ask her questions. Eventually Roy Nutter (Boy #17) raised his hand tentatively.

"Um, excuse me, Ms. Skyling, but what is that thing you pushed off your desk?" he asked. She smiled and looked pityingly down at him. "Really, Mr. Nutter? Are you sure you don't need glasses? It is a head." This drew a few snickers from the class, because now they were quite sure she was joking. It must just be a ball painted red by some student with a disgusting sense of humor. Due to their teacher's calm, reasonable state at the moment, they were nearly forgetting that they were in a strange room, and almost stopped worrying about the collar incident.

"Now. Don't laugh, children. This is an actual head that was removed from a person's neck, more specifically, your former bus driver's neck. Let me show you." She rose from her seat, took out a small pistol from a desk drawer, and fired at the mutilated head. It burst open, spattering crimson blood, gray brain matter and other unsavory substances across the front row of students. Panic immediately took over the room again.

Aven Hall (Girl #1) had been the closest, and had been completely covered in the remains of Mr. Thompson's head. She was frozen in her seat as crimson doused her from head to toe. "No," she whispered unbelievingly. "No." Mr. Thompson had been a good man, always joking around and being nice to the students. She realized how little time she had had to appreciate him.

Aven had moved here just one month ago from a farm, and so had to endure teases, such as "Straw brain!" and "Flea girl!" and "Oh, did you bring a little piggy from your farm to eat at lunch?" This was from Jubilee Kymet from the Jewels, a girl with a sharp tongue and sharper fingernails. Aven was a devout vegetarian, and this taunt had hurt her more than she cared to admit. She didn't have any friends yet, and nobody would even talk to her. The only person who would be nice was Mr. Thompson. "I wish I had a daughter just like you," he would tell her, and playfully muss her bright red hair. She would tell him, "I wish I had a father just like you." Her mother was in a coma in the hospital, and her father had drawn into a depressed shell and couldn't care less about his daughter, when she would have done anything, anything, for a simple hug and an "I love you."

Now Aven was all alone. Nobody cared about her, nobody in the whole world.

"Children, back to your seats, or I shall be forced to use this pistol on some of you." Ms. Skyling's voice, suddenly icy, rang through the room. The shrieking students, some of them with parts of Mr. Thompson on them, went reluctantly back to their desks, spurred only by the threat of the pistol. All except one. Holly Madison (Girl #20) remained standing. "Miss Madison, back to your seat, I said."

"Sure, because you've been so nice to us, and I'm certainly going to do as you say." Holly snorted and crossed her arms. "Go ahead, shoot me, I am not budging from this spot, you'll just kill us all anyway."

Ms. Skyling sighed at the impudent girl. "Let me make the consequences perfectly clear to you." She raised her pistol and shot Holly in the shoulder. She screamed and fell to the floor, shaking, clutching her shoulder with the opposite hand. Blood spewed out of the wound and over the ground and nearby students.

"Here is another consequence." Ms. Skyling shot Holly in the other shoulder, causing her to scream even louder. Her useless arms dangled at her sides. There was barely a spot on the poor girl that didn't have blood soaking it.

"Here is the final consequence." The teacher aimed the gun at Holly's forehead and pressed the trigger. It made a small clicking noise and failed to fire. Ms. Skyling frowned. "Shoot, I'm out of bullets. Well, return to your seat, Miss Madison, or I will crush your head with my high heel." Holly slunk to her desk, tears and blood covering her face. Ms. Skyling went to hustle her along but slipped and fell into a pool of blood, splashing her immaculate white dress and smooth black hair.

Phineas Teave (Boy #11) let out a hysterical little giggle, which he smothered instantly. His teacher gave him a poisonous glare, rose to her feet and returned to the front of the room. "Now, class," she hissed. "Welcome to Battle Royale." Only Hairo Mizuno knew what it was.

Without waiting for questions, Ms. Skyling continued, "In Battle Royale, the rules are simple. We are on an island with an abandoned city. You will each be given a pack containing food, water, a map, a watch and a random weapon, which can be anything from a picture frame to a machine gun. You will all then leave this school one pair at a time and kill each other until only one is left."

The class knew she wasn't joking. This was deadly serious.

Ms. Skyling smiled unpleasantly. "I will announce the deaths and danger zones every six hours. If you are in an active danger zone, your collar will activate and kill you, painfully. If there are no deaths within twenty four hours, all of the collars will activate, and there will be no survivor. There is no way of escape. That is all."

She opened the door and two heavily armed soldiers wheeled in a cart full of backpacks. "Now," said the woman they had once thought was a kind teacher, "The pairs will take their packs and leave the building as I call them. The time limit to leave is thirty seconds, and if you are still in the building, one of the soldiers on guard will shoot you. As soon as they are outside, they are free to kill, and Battle Royale begins. The first pair shall be Chester Artimer and Aven Hall!"

The two in question gave each other frightened glances, then each grabbed a pack and scurried out the door. Ms. Skyling sighed blissfully. "I love this job. Next pair is Dale Veldar and Jennifer Laurel!"

The pairs went on in this way. Jennifer cried. Carlo and Belinda clung tightly to each other. Simon guided the panicking Eva out the door. Alice had to be prompted, as she would not stop rocking back and forth in her seat, whispering, "This isn't real. This isn't real." There were no serious interruptions until pair eight left. Pair eight had been Percival Gedds (Boy #8), a tall, brutish boy, and Cassie Neef (Girl #8), a shy, african american girl. When Ms. Skyling was about to call pair nine, Jordan Parker and Sadie Osbourne, a gunshot was heard, and a far off voice cried out. The students looked at each other, too petrified to move. Someone was playing, and the first kill had been made. Battle Royale had begun.

**41 students remaining**

**Here's the next chapter, and the fighting has begun! Thank you to my one reviewer, Satir3. Could I get more reviews, please? The special question is, _Who do you think is dead?_**

**Thank you for reading!**

**Here is the class list.**

Boy #1: Chester Artimer (Chess)

Girl #1: Aven Hall

Boy #2: Dale Veldar

Girl #2: Jennifer Laurel (Jenny, Jen)

Boy #3: Carlo Valastro

Girl #3: Belinda Valastro (Linda)

Boy #4: Simon Willis

Girl #4: Eva Nyling

Boy #5: Kurt Lyons

Girl #5: Alice Ninian

Boy #6: Bernard Lloyd (Bernie)

Girl #6: Helen Wyatt

Boy #7: Timothy Sheen (Tim)

Girl #7: Destiny Finn

Boy #8: Percival Gedds (Percy)

Girl #8: Cassie Neef

Boy #9: Jordan Parker

Girl #9: Sadie Osbourne

Boy #10: Niles Hemingway

Girl #10: Sandrine Laivette (Sandy)

Boy #11: Phineas Teave (Phin)

Girl #11: Elphaba Skeat (Ella)

Boy #12: Robin Gage (Rob)

Girl #12: Wren Gage

Boy #13: Milo Hailan

Girl #13: Ama Valentine

Boy #14: Cornelius Ellion

Girl #14: Lauren Neal

Boy #15: Cadel Harding

Girl #15: Jubilee Kymet (Jube, Jubes)

Boy #16: Hairo Mizuno

Girl #16: Carmen Satchel

Boy #17: Roy Nutter

Girl #17: Brianna Wing (Anna)

Boy #18: Patrick Thoms

Girl #18: Dory Dobb

Boy #19: Michael Jensen (Mike)

Girl #19: Wilma Pinkerly

Boy #20: Samuel Norris

Girl #20: Holly Madison

Boy #21: Dimitri Nalyaren

Girl #21: Trixie Bell


	3. Fear the World

Ama Valentine (Girl #13) sprinted through the forest, her sides heaving. She was panting and soaked with sweat.

She finally stopped to rest. Leaning against a tree, she slid down to the ground and promptly burst into tears. _How could this have happened?_

She was a nice person...she volunteered at the library...she donated to charities...she studied hard and got good grades...so why did this have to happen to her? She was going to die.

Thinking of Holly Madison, she started crying even louder. Holly was her friend, and now she had been shot in each shoulder, so her arms were useless, and she would definitely die, and she couldn't even carry her pack!

That reminded Ama of her own pack. Reaching over for it, she opened it and saw inside, besides the other things like food and a map, a heavy hammer. A hammer? Really? So I'm just supposed to go and bash people's heads open, yeah, that's what it looks like. Ama flung the bag away from her in disgust. Her teacher was a sick monster.

She thought she should probably get moving again, since when Cassie and Percival had left, someone had died. Someone was playing the game. That someone was probably Percival. Cassie was too nice to kill. So she must be dead. And Ama needed to escape so the same thing wouldn't happen to her.

Ama stood up and brushed her sweaty, light brown hair out of her eyes. Though she couldn't compete with the class beauties, like Helen and Dory, she was by no means ugly. Ama had bright blue-green eyes, currently darting around to see if an enemy was near. She had a tiny bit of acne trouble, but what fifteen year old didn't? Still, no boy had ever gone out with her. This had been the subject of much taunting from the Jewels. "Oh, poor Ama. Maybe someday you'll get a date- with Frankenstein! If he'll take you!" Of course that had been from Jubilee. Jubilee the emptyhead. The monster wasn't called Frankenstein, its creator was. Not as if that mattered at the moment.

Ama picked up her pack and turned to leave, when she heard a rustling noise in the nearby bushes. She covered her mouth with both hands and crouched down by the tree again, terrified out of her mind. Someone was going to kill her, she was about to die, oh no, no-

"Ama?"

She looked up. It was Cassie, her face glimmering with tears. Ama's mouth fell open. How was this possible? Then that meant Percival was dead, not Cassie, which meant...Cassie had killed him. Ama crawled backwards away from Cassie, who bent down to her level. "I don't w-want to hurt you, Ama," she whispered.

"You don't?" said Ama, hardly daring to believe it.

"No, I don't. I thought we could st-stay together for a little. Could we? I'm so s-scared, Ama."

"But how is Percy dead? Did you kill him?" asked Ama, still suspicious. It would be terrible, but Ama might have to kill Cassie if she had gone mad and killed Percival, then went after Ama. Cassie let out a sob.

"He had a g-gun and he tried to shoot me when we came out, but it was dark and he had it t-too close to his face, to see it, but he fired and missed me, and the gun kicked back and put out his eye...Oh, Ama, it was so awful. He screamed and b-blood poured out, and I was going to run away, but he was in so much pain, I took the gun and shot him to finish him off. Then I left the gun, even though I only have a rope as a weapon, and went to find s-someone."

Having finished, she gave loose to a flood of tears. She flung her arms around Ama and pressed her face into her shoulder, heart-wrenching sobs coming from the distraught girl. "Ama, I killed him! I didn't want to, but I killed him! I ended his life, Ama."

Ama held the crying girl, hugging her, crying with her. She was such a heartless person. She had been going to kill Cassie, when Cassie was in such a state. What a monster she was, Cassie would never hurt her, she was just a kind, delicate young girl-

"Listen!" hissed Cassie suddenly. "I heard footsteps coming from over there!" Indeed there were, faster and faster.

**41 students remaining**

**Special question: do you trust Cassie?**

**Thank you for reading!**


	4. Insanity and Hopelessness

Cadel Harding (Boy #15) was going to play the game.

He had decided it, really, when the teacher shot and wounded Holly Madison. Shooting a dead head was all very well, but shooting a girl? That meant business. That meant trouble, it meant this was all really happening. And he wasn't going to just lie down and die. No, he would play and get home to his parents and little brother Ryan. He was going to grow up, have a family, live. Battle Royale wouldn't take that from him. He was going to kill.

Jubilee Kymet, that haughty Jewel girl, had gone in the pair with him out of the school. He hadn't known what his weapon was yet, so he hadn't attacked her. She had turned tail and run away, anyway, presumably to find the rest of her group. When he found them, he would kill them all. Because his weapon was two bombs.

He opened his pack and looked at them again. Yep, two bombs, sitting there like two harmless eggs. How different they really were. It would be so easy for him to win.

Throw, boom, squish, dead.

He giggled maniacally.

Who to go after first? He had two bombs, so he could get the Jewels with one bomb and another large group with the other. Who else would be likely to go in a group? Eva and Trixie; too small, just two of them. Milo Hailan and Elphaba Skeat; same problem. Also with Jordan Parker and Dory Dobb, or the bird twins, or the Italian twins. He grunted in frustration. Why did it have to be so hard, why couldn't everyone else just form in a group so he could win with one bomb?

He was walking while thinking this, and not paying attention to where he was going, so it wasn't really astonishing that he walked into a trap.

"Hrrk-aughh," he gasped, trying to pry away the fingers that were around his neck, just above the collar. He struck out with his fists at the unknown assailant behind him, but to no avail. How did this go so wrong? He felt his consciousness slip, slip, slipping away, and he knew if it did, he would never wake up.

Finally, he passed out, and his attacker breathed a sigh of relief, lifting the scarf around their head to wipe away perspiration. They stepped out from behind Cadel, and let the boy crumple to the ground. The attacker rifled through Cadel's pack, and took the bombs, food, water, and other contents. "A goot haul," the person muttered. "Could do weeth better, though." They took out of their own pack the weapon they were assigned, a pair of handcuffs. Working quickly, they locked one of Cadel's hands into it, and the other side of the cuffs around a thin tree. Tucking the key back into their pocket, the unknown assailant shouldered both packs, and left Cadel there to wake up, eventually.

.

Robin and Wren ran pell-mell away from the school, holding on to their bags and each other. They did not stop to talk, or rest, but ran silently through the dark city for more than two miles, using their athletic abilities to the best they could. At last they paused, and went to rest in a nearby house, breathing heavily. "Do you think we lost Niles?" panted Wren, flopping onto a bed. "I hope so," wheezed Robin. "Did you see he had an axe? And he was trying to kill us with it? What a monster." Wren started to cry, startling herself and her brother. She never cried. What a comedown for the brave bird twin. She dove under a blanket, and pulled it around her head.

Robin awkwardly patted her on the back. "It's okay, Wren. When bad things happen to people, they change. Some in good ways, some in not so good ways. Niles was, unfortunately, someone who changed in a not so good way. We can change for the better. Okay? And please stop crying, you're making me worry."

Wren peeped out of the blanket. She looks so young and vulnerable, thought Robin, more than I've ever noticed before. I hadn't realized how very fragile she is. Like a flower. "Please, Wren?" he added, "I need you to be strong for me. Hey, you're the strongest person I know, and the bravest too. You can do this. I need you." Some of the old fire returned to Wren's eyes. She pulled the blanket off her head and gave her brother a gentle poke. "Thanks, Mr. Psychologist. I'll get up. We can do this, I know we can."

And so they set off, Robin armed only with a tube of acid, and Wren with a spool of wire. The brave bird twins would be indomitable. As long as they were with each other, they needed nothing else.

41 students remaining.

**Awww...don't you just feel for the bird twins? Thank you so much to Daniel Affaro for favoriting and reviewing! Read his story too, it's really good but barely has any reviews. The special question is, Who do you think Cadel's mysterious attacker was?**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Traps and Knowledge

"Help! Somebody! I don't want to fight, please help me! Don't kill me!"

Timothy Sheen (Boy #7) was panicking. He'd been running through the city for so long, everyone had already left the school, so there were forty one- no, forty, there had been a gunshot- classmates that were going to try to kill him. And for his weapon...he had a rotten, lousy, useless, picture frame!

CRACK.

Timothy tripped headfirst into a wall, knocking out a bunch of teeth and sending blood spraying. He fell backward and shrieked, the sound echoing through the whole city. "Oww...ow...shubody help me! Shubody help!" Nobody was coming.

He started to cry.

He was going to die, and nobody could do anything about it.

He was in an incredible amount of pain.

"Shubody HELP! IT HURTS!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, blood and spittle dribbling out of his mouth, along with a few more teeth.

"Tim?" came an incredulous voice.

Timothy looked up, sure he was about to meet his end. Instead, he met the shocked eyes of Simon Willis (Boy #4). "Oh my gosh, Tim, what happened?"

The best friends reunited, Simon soon got out what happened. He found a nearby well, brought back some water in his cupped hands, and rinsed out Timothy's pulped mouth. He tore off the edge of his shirt and tenderly wrapped it around Timothy's jaw. After pulling some dried fruit out of his bag to snack on, he replaced the cloth binding up his friend's jaw. Having cared for him as much as possible, they laid back on the grass to rest.

"Shibon?" mumbled Timothy through his bindings. Simon pulled down the edge of the cloth. "What was that?"

"Whud weabon did you ged?" "A kitchen cleaver," answered Simon, pulling it out of his bag, then putting it back. "You?"

"A loushy picture frame."

They laughed, because everything was funny when you were safe with your best friend. Then they fell fast asleep on the grass, side by side, neither of them noticing the stretched out tripwire that had been so effective on Timothy. Nor did they notice the person who set it, hiding close by in a bush. After that person was sure they were asleep, she sighed and got up.

"This, after saying I wouldn't play the game. Just shows how quickly I can become a monster."

Belinda Valastro (Girl #3), for what felt like the millionth time, cursed. "_Madre di Dio_, this _infernale_ forest goes on for eternity. Where is Carlo, why are these _detestato_ branches tearing my face apart, and why, in the name of _i santi_, is my weapon a pile of paper?" She let out a little squeak of frustration and stomped her foot. "Why, _why_, WHY? Why did I even come to this _indicibile_ country? _Odio tutto questo casino sono in_!"

An arm went around her mouth from behind. "_Cosa stai facendo_?" she yelled, muffled by the jacket cloth. When she bit the arm, it released her, and a pair of cymbals crashed into her head. She fell to her knees, ears ringing, temporarily stunned.

A heavy boot kicked her over onto her stomach. "Prepare to die," said a heavily accented voice.

She knew that voice. "Carlo? You _puzzolente, schifoso_ brat!" Her twin brother, about to step on her neck, froze in mid-step, and tumbled over his sister.

"Belinda! Oh, I am so sorry, truly I am. Forgive me?"

She snorted. "Be more careful next time. You could have killed me. Are those cymbals actually your assigned weapon?"

He nodded unhappily. "They are, so I guess I couldn't really kill you. What did you get?"

She brought out of her bag the bundle of papers. He peered closer at one page and gasped.

"This is information about our whole class! Look, it says here at the top, 'Chester Artimer', and says lots of things about him. And look! Your file!"

Interested, Belinda leaned closer to see what Ms. Skyling had written about her.

**Belinda Valastro**

**Designated weapon: Information**

**Girl #3**

**Born in Italy, moved to America following the death of her mother Rosetta. Twin brother Carlo Valastro, Boy #3, in same class. Good in math but failing at PE, detrimental to her chances of winning. Has a fierce temper and a hard-to-control dirty mouth. Could develop survival instinct, but unlikely. If survives, probably wouldn't cause any trouble, and could be weeded out easily if she does.**

**Final judgement: Likelihood of early elimination. Lacks survival instinct and ability to keep temper under control.**

"I'll show them fierce temper!" hissed Belinda, furious. Carlo was shaking with silent laughter. Oh, Dio, hard-to-control dirty mouth? Try living with her, he thought, while comfortingly patting his sister on the back. " 'Could be weeded out easily' ? I'll weed them out! Those beasts!" she snarled. "Be quiet, Belinda. We don't want to be heard, because then we'd be killed, and- "

Whissst...thunk.

A pickaxe, thrown by a nearby attacker, landed in Carlo's head. He toppled over into his sister's lap, dead in an instant. Belinda was frozen in shock. The attacker stepped out. It was Michael Jensen (Boy #19). "He-_llo_, little girl," he said, smirking. "Want to come with me?"

Belinda's scream of terror was heard across the whole island.

40 students remaining.

**Aaah! Poor Carlo and Belinda. Carlo and Percival are dead now. More to follow! Special question is, who do you think set the trip wire for Timothy?**

**Translations from Italian to English:**

Madre di Dio: Mother of God

infernale: infernal

detestato: detested

i santi: the saints

indicibile: unspeakable

Odio tutto questo casino sono in!: I hate this whole mess I'm in!

Cosa stai facendo?: What are you doing?

puzzolente, schifoso: stinking, loathsome


	6. Hammurabi's Law

Belinda couldn't think. She had just seen her brother be killed by her former classmate, attacked from behind without a chance. Michael Jensen had thrown a pickaxe into Carlo's head, he had died, and there was nothing she could have done about it..

He was dead.

Her little brother by nine minutes.

Her maddening, wonderful, infuriating, amazing brother was dead.

She didn't save him.

"I said, come with me!" snapped Michael. He wrenched out his pickaxe with a sickening sshhhlup, sending rivulets of blood down Carlo's prostrate form. It flowed from Carlo's head onto Belinda's lap, soaking through her thin white skirt, staining the whole ground beneath her red.

"Stand up. I won't tell you again."

"Why?" asked Belinda, grief dulling her voice. She didn't have the heart to scream or cry. "Why bother? You'll kill me anyway. _Ti odio_."

"Put it this way, doll," said Michael, yanking her up by her arm. "You can come with me and be my hostage, so other people might not kill me, and then you might live longer. Or I can kill you here and now, like your dear brother. Your choice."

Belinda started to laugh. High, mad laughter that bubbled out of her like the blood from a punctured lung. Michael stepped back, holding his weapon in front of him. "What are you doing? What's so funny? You're coming with me, now, so stop laughing. Stop it!"

She stopped abruptly and stood up. "Put it this way, sweetie," she mocked. "I'm not coming with you, since you murdered my brother, so you can leave me alone, or kill me now. Your choice. Actually, there's one more option."

She stepped forward and kicked him in the stomach. He let out a whoosh of air and bent over reflexively, wheezing, so Belinda had time to stomp on his foot before running away.

Only she didn't get to the running away part. Doubled over, his foot and stomach throbbing, Michael had managed to snatch her leg. He tugged, and she fell over. His pickaxe was at her throat in an instant.

"Nice try, doll. Not- bad- for- a- little- girl," he snarled, delivering a punch after every word. Belinda still kicked furiously while pinned under him. She wasn't screaming now. If she was going down, she'd go down fighting, not like a coward.

"Go- to _inferno_," she gasped, catching the pickaxe with a lucky kick. It skittered away into a bush, and she went on clawing Michael's face more desperately than ever. She had a chance now.

"Me? Really? How about you?" she heard through her red mist of pain, and felt another rain of blows come down on her. _Dio_, she had never hurt this much in her entire life, including the time when Carlo had accidentally stabbed her with a toasting fork.

She could tell she was losing. She'd gotten in a few good hits, but mostly he had been punching, punching, punching at her. It hurt, it hurt so much.

After another shower of blows, her battered body went limp. It twitched once, twice, then stopped.

Michael stood up and wiped blood from his face. He snorted and kicked Belinda's still form. "That'll teach her to mess with me. Could've stayed alive longer, but she had to go and die like her brother.

"Why, Mike?"

Michael whirled around and met the sad eyes of Jordan Parker. Jordan was holding a musket, but pointing it downward.

"We were friends, Mike. We ate lunch together. You told me you thought Belinda was pretty. And now you've gone and punched her to death. And you've killed Carlo. Her brother who smiled at everyone. Why?"

He found he couldn't answer for a moment. Then he gulped down his shame and made an ugly face at his former friend. "It's life, weakling. You adapt, you conquer, you survive. I was doing what comes naturally to humans."

He bent down and scooped up Belinda's unprotesting body. "She's not really dead. And if you try to kill me with that gun, I'll let her have it."

He was lying. Obviously she was dead, but Jordan didn't seem so sure.

"I just- I wouldn't kill anyone. Couldn't."

"Afraid to, are you?" Michael sneered. "You should have at least brought a friend to protect you, maybe a friend who would kill."

"Actually, I did."

Dory's short sword went through the back of Michael's knee.

His scream hit so high a pitch it was almost silent, and he collapsed..

Dory stepped out from behind him, and wiped her sword off on Michael's shirt. "I should kill you, Mike. I really should. Shall I, Jordan?"

Jordan twisted his mouth to one side. He lowered both eyebrows. "It would be Hammurabi's law," Dory coaxed. "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, death for a death."

"But also, remember Gandhi: An eye for an eye only makes the world blind," Jordan countered.

"Will you just decide if you're killing me or not?" Michael snapped. He was on the ground, clutching his bleeding leg with one hand. His other hand was creeping toward Belinda's bag.

"Let me kill him," begged Dory. "He's a monster, he killed Linda and Carlo. Come on."

"No. We won't become monsters like he is," said Jordan, rising from where he had been inspecting Belinda. "And you know what? Belinda is alive."

**Sorry about this chapter being short, but...yay! Belinda is alive! At the moment...**

**Oh yeah, a special question. The question is, what do you think is going to happen to Michael?**

Translations

Italian to English

_Ti odio: _I hate you

_inferno: _hell

_Dio: _God


	7. It's Not Fair

Eva was lost.

Simon had been helping her along since he had been paired with her. He had guided her over logs and around brambles, but when that first gunshot sounded, he skedaddled. He had actually left a blind girl in the middle of an unfamiliar forest, only pausing to mutter a hasty excuse about finding his friend Timothy and then returning with him. What a laugh. He wouldn't come back.

So she'd determinedly wandered around, bumping into things, looking for someone, anyone. She didn't even know what her weapon was. She'd reached into her pack and felt two round, smooth things like eggs, but hadn't dared do anything else with them. They could be poisonous or explosive.

And so, though she hated to admit it, she was doomed.

A blind girl surviving for more than a few hours in a fight to the death, much less winning? What a laugh! Eva could barely walk down a flight of stairs. She needed Trixie desperately.

Walking into yet another tree, she almost shouted in frustration. Gritting her teeth, she felt her forehead in case it was bleeding. It was.

"Just better and better," she hissed, groping around for her handkerchief she always kept tucked in her belt. Surely they hadn't taken that.

She felt a piece of cloth, which gave way to skin.

Eva jumped back and stifled a gasp. That skin wasn't hers. Which meant...somebody had snuck up to her without making a sound, had tried to take her handkerchief, and was standing right in front of her.

"Who is that?" she said, trying to keep her voice from quavering.

She was met with a bear hug and a flood of words.

"I'm so sorry Eva! I didn't mean to startle you! I was only trying to get your handkerchief to wipe up all of Holly's blood, and I was going to say so a second later. Oh, you're bleeding too. Let me help, okay? I can do it for you. I'm sorry!"

There were only two people in her class who spoke like that, Eva knew. One was Jennifer Laurel (Girl #2), and one was Samuel Norris (Boy #20). This was a boy, who apparently was paired with Holly Madison (Girl #20), so it was Samuel.

"Well, thanks," she said grudgingly. "So you're sticking with Holly? That's decent of you. Where is she?"

"Oh, she's just over here. I'll get her. I'll be right back, I promise. Sorry about staining your handkerchief."

He walked off, leaving Eva sitting at the base of a tree. He returned a minute later with Holly. Eva obviously couldn't see her, but she could hear her sniffling and whimpering with pain. If Samuel hadn't torn off bits of his shirt to stop the bleeding and wiped up most of the blood with the rest, judging from the wet and smelly hug, she would have bled out by now.

"Hello, Eva," said Holly in a low voice, struggling to hold the tears in. "I'm glad Samuel found you. Otherwise you'd be in just as bad a situation as I was."

"I guess so," said Eva. "Hey, Samuel. What's your weapon? And what's Holly's weapon?"

"Mine is a gatling gun," replied Samuel. Just great, thought Eva. "And Holly's weapon is a sickle. Don't worry, I won't shoot either of you. I wouldn't even if I knew how to use it."

Poor Samuel. He was a guy who definitely couldn't win. Poor clumsy, eager-to-please, kind-hearted Samuel. He would never kill.

"Okay. What's my weapon?" she asked. "It's in my bag."

She heard Samuel unzip it. "Hmm, let's see. What are these? They look like big black eggs with...oh dear...little handles. I suppose you would pull them. They're grenades."

Eva heard Holly walk over. "Grenades? Yikes, Eva. I'm glad you didn't blow yourself up with them. Maybe we could pack them in somewhere tight, so there's no chance of them being set off."

"How about my water bottle?" Samuel offered.

"Isn't your water in your water bottle?" said Eva, incredulous. Surely he couldn't have finished all the water already, or spilled it. That would mean the big clumsy thing would have to share with Holly and her.

"Nope, it's all gone. I washed out Holly's bullet wounds with it, and let her drink the rest."

Eva wished she hadn't had such a selfish thought.

"I'll put them in," he said. She heard him open the bottle, the two clinks of putting the grenades in, and then the closing of the bottle. "There. All done. Why don't we all take a rest break now?"

Samuel took off his bloody shirt and hung it up on a low-hanging branch. "Those stains will never come out," he sighed. "My mom's going to be furious."

Eva didn't have the heart to tell him that he wouldn't get out alive and see his mom again. It would be like kicking a puppy.

.

"Aven?" said Cassie.

"Ama? Cassie?" said Aven.

"Oh, it's you!" said Ama, smiling in relief. "I thought you might be someone dangerous, someone who might kill us. I was so scared when I heard someone coming towards us. Thank goodness it's you, Aven."

"Why assume she won't kill us?" Cassie broke in. Then she looked at Aven nervously. "I m-mean, we don't know. Sorry, Aven, but could we just check your bag for another weapon? Please?"

Aven wasn't sure that she wasn't being trapped. Still, she didn't stop Cassie from taking her bag. "I'm really s-sorry if this offends you. I'm j-just scared that you could try to hurt us."

"It's all right," said Aven. "I'm also scared, Cassie. I understand."

Cassie peered into Aven's bag. "It looks like you've got a nail gun. Dangerous. Do you mind if I k-keep that for a little?"

"Oh, not at all," replied Aven.

Ama, apparently feeling left out, said, "Well, we can all be allies, right? Friends? No killing? Let's have a snack, right? We'll share some crackers."

"Of course," said Cassie and Aven simultaneously.

Of course, thought Aven. But she wasn't quite sure. Something about the whole thing seemed...off.

.

Hairo Mizuno (Boy #16) climbed the stairs of a small house in the village. He entered a room at the left. It was a child's room, a little girl's room, filled with pink things and butterflies and dolls. Dolls, smiling at him. A pale pink carpet.  
It was too bad that the nice carpet would be ruined.

He sat down cross-legged, took his bag from off his shoulders and reached in. He pulled out his weapon, a kukri. It really was wonderfully made. The blade curved so smoothly, the silver metal tinted blue. It was a masterpiece.

What luck for the son of a knife maker to end up in Battle Royale twice.

That was how he had won last time. He had received a dagger, another type of blade. He knew all about those. Though small and slight, he had sliced his way through his first Battle Royale. He had ended so many lives.

Not this time.

He didn't want to be a monster again. He didn't want to kill anymore. He didn't want any more nightmares. He had sought out another winner of the program, someone called Shuya Nanahara, and asked if the nightmares ever went away.

Shuya said no. Not ever.

Hairo held the kukri up. With quiet precision, he slit his throat.

Blood spattered the pink carpet.

39 students remaining

**Nooo...Hairo...(sniffle)...**

**Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. Special question, do you trust Samuel?**

**And reviews are lovely.**


	8. So Little Joy

"Oh, no you don't," said Dory, stamping on Michael's right hand, which had been stealthily reaching toward Belinda's bag. He squealed and jerked back. Dory picked up the bag and slid it onto her shoulder, out of his reach, and glared at him.

"Do you really want a sword through the other knee? Because you probably don't want to bleed out so quickly."

"Dory," said Jordan, exasperated. "You aren't listening. I said, Belinda is alive."

"What? Really?" Dory raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "She looks dead to me. Old Mikey here really did a number on her, all right. And he definitely killed Carlo."

Jordan clenched his teeth and pulled Dory aside.

"You're not taking any of this seriously," he hissed. "Belinda is _almost_ dead, Carlo is dead, and you stabbed Michael through the leg. You're acting like this is all a game."

"It's my way of dealing with it," she hissed back. "Would you rather I curled up in a little ball and cried?"

Jordan hesitated. Then he sighed.

"Fine. Joke around, if you want. Just don't kill anyone. Everyone on this island wants to survive, and we will not be responsible for ending that hope. They're people, just like we are. Now let me tend to Belinda."

He sat next to her, leaving Dory to keep an eye on Michael. He gently brushed her thick black hair off her forehead, then winced. Maybe it was worse than he thought, and he already knew she was in bad shape. Mottled purple bruises covered her face, rapidly swelling and disfiguring it. Her lips were split open and bleeding, and her nose was broken. Even if she survived, she would never again be the pretty girl she once was. Maybe she wouldn't wake up. Maybe Michael had hurt her deep inside, and there was internal bleeding. He couldn't deal with that at all. He'd only been taking nurse training for five months. It was his dream, but frankly, he wasn't that good.

Suddenly Belinda sat up, making Jordan squeak like a trodden-on mouse and fall backward. Dory whirled around.

"You're alive! Hey, Linda, imagine that. You're gonna be okay!"

Belinda coughed. She held her hand to her mouth and coughed again. A thick, dark, sticky liquid spattered out.

"Oh no," Jordan gasped. "She's bleeding from the inside." He turned a horrified face on his former friend.

"What did you do to her, Michael?"

Michael shrugged. "I dunno. The crazy girl was trying to kill me. I was just defending myself."

"The same way you _defended_ yourself against Carlo."

"He attacked me too!"

"I don't believe you. You're a liar."

"Guys, stop it!" said Dory, waving her hands frantically at them. "Dory is trying to say something!"

Jordan gave Michael one last furious glance, then knelt next to the dying Belinda. She was choking on her own blood, coughing and spluttering. Her face was an unrecognizable mass of wounds.

"Jor...dan," she croaked out eventually. "Do...ry."

"It's okay, Belinda, I'm h-here," he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking, and failing miserably. "It's okay. I-I can help you."

"He knows how to heal you," Dory broke in, hope on her face. "Jordan knows how to heal everyone. Right, Jordan? Belinda will be her old snarky self in no time at all, right? Right?"

Jordan shook his head.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so s-sorry." He couldn't hold back the tears, tears of being helpless at the side of his dying classmate, tears that he couldn't really help her.

Something that might have been her mouth faintly smiled.

"That's...fine. Wasn't real...ly any use to...anyone any...way. World's better...without me."

"You were a use to everyone. You are. You used to make Michael smile whenever you walked by," Jordan said firmly.

"You used to make the math teacher gush about you when you weren't listening," Dory added.

"You would always make a joke and cheer your brother up when he was sad."

"Your angelic singing made everyone fall silent with awe."

"You could make anyone laugh."

That definitely must have been her mouth, because it stretched into an obvious smile.

"Thanks...you two. That makes me...feel better. All I wanted was...to make people happy...because there's...so little joy...in the world."

Another moment passed, a moment with no sound but her wheezing for breath.

"Will I see...my mother again?" she asked, in a final moment of childish hope. Jordan nodded fervently.

"You will, you will s-see her again. I promise."

"That's...nice. That's very nice."

She grew still, and the smile was frozen on her face. Jordan shook his head.

"No. No. No! Belinda! You can't be dead! You can't do this!"

Dory put her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Jordan. She's dead."

"Then don't you hate me?" he sobbed. "It's like I killed her. I couldn't save her. I wasn't any help at all."

She took his hand.

"You didn't kill her. You saved her. She was happy right before she died."

Dory looked up at the sky, and thought she saw a new star, twinkling brightly at her. It winked.

"If she's somewhere else, with her mother and brother, I know she's smiling down at us. She's telling them that you helped her in her final moments. She's telling them that you saved her."

Jordan looked up, and saw the same star.

"Maybe."

Dory rose to her feet, and turned away for a moment to cough, giving her enough time to wipe her eyes.

"Well, the least we can do is give Carlo and Belinda a proper burial," she said briskly. "Come on. I'll start digging a hole with my sword, and you do something with Michael. It better be you, because if I went over to him, I might just cut off his head."

"Right," said Jordan, turning to deal with the boy who had killed the harmless twins. But there was nobody there.

"Dory! He's gone!"

"Drat. He crawled away while we were with Belinda, I guess. At least he can't kill anyone else; I took care of his leg quite well. I should've chopped off his head though." She paused. "No, I'm _glad_ I didn't kill him. It isn't better to kill him than to kill Belinda. Everyone is scared and trying to get home, they're just doing it in different ways."

Jordan nodded. He had no words for his gratitude.

They dug two holes, Dory using her sword and Jordan using Michael's discarded pickaxe. It took a while, but eventually they were deep enough to lower the twins' bodies into them. They piled the dirt back into the holes, and stood for a minute in silent respect. Jordan gave a military salute, which maybe wasn't quite fitting, but it was the only salute he could think of. Dory put the middle three fingers of her left hand to her lips, then raised them. That was from a book she had read called The Hunger Games. It meant goodbye to someone you loved. Maybe she hadn't been that close to the twins, but Carlo had been one of the most polite and helpful boys in school. And Belinda, for all her temper, had only been trying to bring joy to the world. They needed more people like her.

**38 students remaining**

**Poor Belinda...I guess she lived up to her weapon's prediction. Special question, do you think Dory will end up killing? (If she does, I think I know her first target *coughMichaelcough*)**

**Review, review, review this story**

**Gently all the way**

**Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily**

**Reviews aren't just a dream.**


	9. Jewels

"Aieeeee!"

Destiny Finn (Girl #7) leapt backwards away from the gruesome sight, landing in Jubilee Kymet's (Girl #15) arms. They tumbled down the stairs, bowling Helen Wyatt (Girl #6) and Sandrine Laivette (Girl #10) over with them. They landed in a tangled and groaning heap at the bottom of the staircase.

"You blockhead, Destiny!" Jubilee snapped, her head pinned under Sandrine's foot. "What did you see that deserved a huge pileup like this, may I ask? A student with a gun? A raging fire?"

"A history essay?" added Helen, muffled by Destiny's backpack.

"Ha, ha, double ha," Destiny grumbled, digging herself out of the heap. "There's a body up there. It was covered in blood. It would've scared you, too."

"Who was it?" said Sandrine. "I hope it wasn't Cornelius." It was well known that Cornelius and Helen were an item. However, it was also well known that neither restrained from flirting with others.

"I didn't see. Maybe it was Wilma the Walrus," said Destiny hopefully.

"Maybe it was a bird twin," said Sandrine.

"Nahh, they're never apart," Helen reminded them.

"Let's go see. Don't knock me down the stairs again, Destiny, or I swear I'll shoot you." Jubilee started toward the stairs.

"Wait! Don't go up there yet! There could be another tribute up there! The killer!" Sandrine pulled Jubilee back. "At least let's get our weapons ready."

"Destiny can use her collar detector," Helen said, clutching her assigned whip. Sandrine pulled out her dart gun.

Destiny opened her bag, promptly spilling its contents over the floor. Among them was Jubilee's rifle.

Jubilee smacked Destiny across the face. Destiny smacked Jubilee, leading to a major smacking war, which Sandrine had to break up.

"I was only trying to keep it safe," Destiny whined, rubbing her stinging face with one hand and shoving her supplies back in her bag. "I was gonna give it back."

"Yeah, sure. I can't believe you got that away without me seeing you. Let's just see what the collar detector shows, thief." Jubilee took her rifle and switched on the detector.

"Oh, good," said Helen, sighing in relief. "There's nobody up there."

"Yeah, but there's someone nearby, and moving this way. Really quickly," Sandrine pointed out. The four girls exchanged worried glances.

"We'll see who the body is, and then we'll leave," Helen said, and nobody dared contradict her.

"Nothing to worry about! It's only that Mizuno boy!" Jubilee announced, after she checked upstairs. "And it looks like he killed himself. His knife is covered in blood."

"What a loser," Helen sneered. "That's the easy way out. We're going to survive through thick and thin, aren't we? Jewels forever!"

Jubilee and Sandrine echoed her, but Destiny was staring at the collar detector. "Uh, g-guys?" she stuttered, holding the detector at arms length in front of her as if it were a bomb. "There's somebody downstairs."

All motion and sound immediately stopped.

…...

Cornelius Ellion (Boy #14) cocked his head, listening intently. There was no more sound upstairs. Apparently, the people raising a cacophony had heard him open the door.

He slowly drew his rifle, running his fingers along it almost lovingly. A Ruger No. 1 Varminter K1-V-BBZ, the best hunting rifle he knew of. It would be hard to beat him in combat, unless the enemy also had a gun. Then again, he was a crack shot. Who knew his forays into the forest with his father would pay off?

He noticed a bag of crackers on the floor. That wouldn't be odd by itself; that was one of the things in his bag. But that meant somebody had dropped them. And, judging by the particular holes torn in the bag, somebody with high heels had stepped on it. High heels meant it was most likely Helen, his girlfriend. Which meant the people upstairs were the Jewels. There, see? He knew stuff. He wasn't as stupid as everybody thought he was.

Cornelius carefully stepped up the stairs, sticking to the side. They were less likely to creak that way. He tread softly across the carpet at the top of the landing to a closed door. The carpet there was askew, proving that it had been walked over. This was the room.

He flung open the door and yelled, "Boo!"

All four girls shrieked. Three of them collapsed to the ground, as if they had been shot. Not Jubilee. She jerked her rifle up to her shoulder and fired.

Cornelius screamed and toppled, clutching his right foot. Red-hot agony pulsed through it, along with shockingly scarlet blood.

"Cornelius! Oh, Cornelius!" After Helen realized who he was, she rushed to his side. She ripped off Jubilee's rose-patterned sleeve and pressed it to his wound.

"I'm so sorry, Cor-cor," she whispered tearfully. "I'll kill her. I'll kill that girl." She leapt up, brandishing her whip. Destiny and Sandrine averted their eyes as Helen flailed at Jubilee, tearing bloody gashes in her soft white skin. Jubilee screamed and writhed, her rifle discarded on the floor as she tried to protect herself. Truth be told, Cornelius was greatly enjoying the sight. She deserved it for shooting him.

"P-please! Helen- STOP, STOP, PLEASE! I'm sorry! Oh god, make it STOP!" Jubilee curled into a ball, emitting racking sobs as Helen continued to mercilessly rip her apart.

Finally, Helen stopped. She dropped the whip, panting, utterly spent. Jubilee's body had uncurled and was spread out across the floor in a bloody splatter- a pitiful sight. Her fair hair was matted with gore and her face was unrecognizable.

"Are you okay, Cor-cor?" Helen cooed, kneeling beside her boyfriend. "I got rid of that nasty girl. She'll never hurt you again."

Sandrine, who hadn't dared to intervene in the brutal murder of Jubilee, let out a small sob.

**37 students remaining**

**Both dead girls had horrendous deaths... Grr. Question: Do you think Helen will kill any more of her Jewels (Temperamental thing, isn't she)?**

**Reviews, as always, are lovely.**


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